The Realization of Possibility
by ShutUpAndPull
Summary: A post ep. 2x24 story, based upon a prompt I happened upon which had its author hoping to read about Rick and Kate's weekend in the Hamptons that never was, one that began as platonic but became a bit more.
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: I have yet to come across another person in all my Castle travels whose favorite episode is also 2x24. If you're out there, I have a special bit of love saved just for you.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1**_

Lanie watched with a smirk as Kate pulled a black bikini from her dresser drawer and tried nonchalantly to tuck it into her bag along with the rest of the summery wardrobe items she'd chosen for the weekend. "But this is just a friends thing, right?" she said, knowing better but anxious for the reply.

"What else would it be, Lanie? That is what Castle and I are."

"Sure it is," Lanie replied with a hum of pronounced dismissal. "Silly me, I guess my friendships just usually involve a bit more fabric, but you go ahead and keep telling yourself that." She pushed from the edge of the bed and stepped up to Kate's side. "Planning on packing the red lipstick, too?"

"Would you just shut up, please? You're not helping." She moved for the bathroom with her toiletry bag in hand and Lanie close behind. "It actually is possible for a woman and a man to be friends without sex being involved, you know. We've managed to do it for almost two years."

"Are you forgetting how the movie went, Detective? Harry definitely did a lot more than just meet Sally, and are you honestly going to tell me that if Castle finally made a move, you wouldn't jump at that?" Kate turned and looked back over her shoulder with a crinkled expression. "What, Ms. Always In Control likes to be in charge in the bedroom, too? I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all if you made the first move."

"Neither of those things is going to happen, Lanie, and this conversation is starting to get on my nerves."

"And why is that, because I struck one?" She reached around and swiped the bag out of Kate's hands to a huff of aggravation. "Look, I don't know who it is you think you're fooling, but it sure ain't me. I'm your best friend and I've seen it. Hell, you turned down that hot robbery cop when he asked you out. That's all the proof I need. You're a world-class detective, Kate, but you need to get yourself a clue."

Kate stood alone in the bathroom for a long moment after Lanie walked out, her pulse palpably elevated. She made it sound so easy, as though nothing had come before him, as though she hadn't been broken into a thousand pieces and put back together with glue still sticky in its extraordinary task. Of course she'd thought about it, about Rick and about what it might be like to be with him in a moment two people get to share just once, but they were friends, and more than that, they were partners, and even the possibility that she could lose either by injecting fantasy into reality terrified her.

"You should pack that yellow sundress," Lanie told her once she emerged from the bathroom. "You look gorgeous in that color and it's perfect for the beach."

"I forgot I even had that," Kate said, scanning the hangers in her armoire.

"I just want you to be happy, Kate. I hope you know that. You're one of the best people I've ever known and you deserve it, no matter what your head tries to tell you, and I know possibility can be scary because it comes with risk, but where would any of us be without it?"

"I know," Kate replied softly without turning around. "I know."

 **xxxx**

They were able to duck out of the precinct shortly after 4PM that Friday, the traffic ahead of them as awful as Rick imagined it might be given the added holiday travelers. The back seat was buried beneath their weekend bags and canvas bags of food, more than they could possibly eat in just a few days, and he was behind the wheel with an expression of contentment Kate found impossible to ignore.

"You're thinking about how hot I look when I drive, aren't you?" he said, his eyes never veering from the road, yet perfectly aware of her attention. "If you enjoy it so much, maybe you should let me do it more often."

Kate rolled her eyes, couldn't help but chuckle. "As usual, Castle, your outlandish theories amuse and annoy, emphasis on the latter, and the day I let you sit in my seat in my car is the day you win a Pulitzer."

He snapped his head in her direction as they slowly rolled to a stop at the red light. "Ouch, Detective, but l guess I'll consider that a challenge and accept it gracefully. You think Nikki Heat has a Pulitzer in her?" he asked, eyeing her suggestively. "I mean, besides Jameson Rook's, that is."

"You do plan on engaging me in an adult conversation at some point this weekend, right, Castle?"

"Worry not, Ms. Beckett. I'll engage you in any way you like this weekend." He stepped on the gas and returned his focus to the road. "But, I assure you I meant what I said, no funny stuff. I'll be a perfect gentleman."

Kate released a tiny burst of laughter. "Is that what you tell all the girls you bring out here?"

"No, that's what I'm telling you," he said in earnest tone. "Besides, I haven't brought any girls out here in a couple of years, well, unless you count Mother and Alexis." Kate's face read surprised and he caught it. "What? Is that so hard to believe?"

Her brain was screaming 'Yes!' but she didn't want to tell him so. "I guess, I don't know, Castle. It's really none of my business." Honestly, she didn't know, nor did she want to hear about it, for reasons she understood well and for reasons she hadn't fully allowed herself to accept.

"Then maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do," he said with a perceived hint of a bite. "And maybe this weekend will help fix that."

"Yeah," Kate said, sounding contrite, "maybe it will."

 **xxxx**

The trip that normally took him two hours took them nearly three with the Memorial Day traffic, and the sun had turned from a soft yellow to a bright orange by the time they arrived at the house. Kate had only seen one photograph of it before she found herself standing within its walls, and she couldn't possibly have imagined the extent of its beauty and its elegance. It was all at once everything she hoped for and nothing she expected, its polish unlike that of his loft yet definitively his, and she felt more and more welcomed by it as she moved deeper inside.

"What do you think?" Rick asked, having made a second trip back out to the car to gather up the remaining bags of supplies. "Do you like it?"

"No, Castle, I don't like it, I love it. It's gorgeous." He kept moving past her and she followed him into the kitchen. "You might have a tough time kicking me out of here on Monday," she teased, though not entirely.

"You can stay forever," Rick replied absent thought, freeing his hands of the packages before realizing exactly what it was he'd said. "Can I, um, a drink, maybe?"

Kate swallowed a grin at his obvious abashment and pulled out one of the stools at the counter to sit. "Maybe just some water for now, thanks." He stepped backwards for the refrigerator and grabbed them each a cold bottle. "Castle, how many other people did you invite to help us eat all this food?"

"We're it for the weekend, Detective, unless you want to call some friends or-"

"No, no," she said, jumping in too quickly, "that's okay."

He began pulling stuff out of the bags and gathering it on the counter. "I always end up buying too much stuff because I can never remember what's already here," he explained. "Hence the six boxes of wine crackers."

"Old age?" she quipped.

Rick exhaled a phony guffaw. "And you call me a wiseass. Remind me to keep you away from this wine. God only knows what'll come of things."

Kate felt a blush at the swift and unexpected path her brain traveled with his suggestion, one she was certain only hers had traveled, and she silently scolded herself for allowing the thought to invade. "Sounds like a really fun weekend, _Dad_ ," she said with a smile, shaking it off. "So, hey, since you haven't offered, how much for the fifty-cent tour of the castle, Castle?"

"Sorry, yeah, let's do it." He put down the bottles in his hands and came around the island. "Of course, it's always free for New York's finest so no need for the wallet, and let me just say what a treat it'll be to have you following me around for a change. Just remember to keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. Things can get a bit bumpy, sometimes."

"You're tellin' me," she said softly, trailing his lead.

 **xxxx**

"This was nice, thank you," Rick said pushing back in his chair, wine glass in hand. "It's been a long time since someone cooked dinner for me, at least one this good."

"I told you, Castle, you drove and dealt with the traffic, so it seemed only fair, and it was just pasta. It wasn't like I slaved away in the kitchen all day. And before you even say it," she went on, practically jumping on her own words, "no, that's not an option."

He released the excited breath he'd inhaled and downed another sip. "Party pooper," he grumbled. "You know, it's kind of funny, though."

"What is?" Kate asked, sampling from her own glass.

"That you don't really notice how little you do something until you finally do it. I mean, I've spent nearly every day of the past two years with you and we've rarely shared a meal, certainly not just the two of us. That seems so strange to me, all of a sudden."

"You've seen the inside of my refrigerator, Castle, and like you said, you're with me most of the time. You know what my schedule's like. I don't have a lot of time to do much of anything outside of work." His eyes were fixated off into the distance somewhere, as though he was stuck in the thought. "But, I guess maybe it is a little bit strange. That is something friends do tend to do."

"Well, we should try to change that then. We're friends, right? We like to eat, right?"

"We are absolutely friends who like to eat, yes," Kate agreed energetically, wondering all the while why the hell the word friends suddenly sounded so awkward.

Their eyes met but neither said anything right away. "Yeah, we'll change that," Rick said, at a loss for any words of actual value. "So, um, are you okay with staying in the guest room downstairs?" he followed in an abrupt left turn. "I was thinking you might like the extra privacy. I don't want you to feel like you have to spend every minute with me while we're here."

Kate peered at him over the rim of her glass. "Is that a backhanded way of telling me you need your alone time, Castle?"

"What? Me? No. I want to be with you. That's why I asked you to come." His eyes grew wide with the sound of his words, the second occasion he found himself speaking before thinking in an unforgivably short period of time. "I'm sorry," he said, his speech deliberately calmed. "That's not, of course I want to hang out with you as much as you'd like." He was attempting breezy, but he was backtracking poorly and he knew it. "I don't want you to feel obligated is all I meant."

"I was kidding, Castle. Relax, okay, this is supposed to be a vacation." She was quite happy not to be the only one struggling for casual. "And, just so you know, in all honesty, I agreed to come when you asked because I really wanted a ride to the beach so I could work on my tan." A wide grin broke across her face almost immediately, his expression only serving to fuel its growth. "Vacation, Castle," she reminded him again with a shake of her head. "And I wanted to spend time with you, too, away from work for a change."

"Well, that's good, I'm glad," Rick said, extending his glass. "To time together away from work, Detective."

"Cheers," she said, tapping his glass with her own. "But, since we're away from work, Castle, how about you try calling me Kate."

"Deal," he said with a smile and they both drank.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kate woke late the next morning, despite assuring Rick against his firm prediction she always rose early, even on the weekends. She opened her eyes to the near dark of the room, convinced it must still the middle of the night until she reached for her phone to discover it was already after 10AM. She rubbed the hours of blissful slumber from her eyes and pushed out of bed, the aroma of fresh coffee tugging her body like a magnet down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Told you," Rick called out to her from his spot on the couch, sounding more than a bit pleased with himself. "It's the curtains."

"I'm really going to need a cup of coffee in my hand before you start gloating, Castle," she said in the tail end of yawn. He met her in the kitchen already showered and dressed, his scent as alluring as the one that lured her there. "God, it smells good."

"I know, right," he concurred enthusiastically. "There's an amazing place out here. You can grind the beans yourself. I walked over there this morning."

"Wait, you already went out this morning? And you walked?" She held her mug steady as he poured and then went into the fridge for her milk.

"More hard to believe Castle facts for you, it seems. I go out for a walk every morning when I'm here, actually. It's a lot more enjoyable an experience when you don't have to dodge a constant stream of bodies heading the opposite direction." Kate downed her first sip with a nod. "See, you're learning all kinds of new things about me already, and we've only been here a few hours."

"I guess I am, and you should wake me up next time. I like walks."

"I'll do that," Rick said, pouring himself another cup. "I noticed you were up pretty late last night, so I thought I should let you sleep."

"How did you-"

"I wandered downstairs for some water at about 1:30AM and the light in your room was still on."

Something inside her responded instantly to his words, to the idea that they were alone in his house together in the quiet of night, and though she wouldn't admit it to him, it was his voice, in a manner of speaking, that'd kept her awake. She'd found a copy of _Flowers for Your Grave_ on one of the bookshelves and couldn't resist cracking it open. That was where they'd begun, how their lives had first intersected, and she'd felt a buzz flipping its pages in secret from a place so far removed from that beginning.

"Yeah, I was up reading for a while. That's quite a library you've got going in there, by the way. Ninety-nine percent of the books were written by some Richard Castle guy. You must be a big fan," she teased.

"Oh, you should give that guy a try some time. You might like him," he replied playfully, eliciting a smile. "So, tell me, what would you like to do today? I was thinking we could hit the beach early, come back for some pool time, and then maybe check out the farm stand for some stuff for dinner."

"I like the sound of all of that. Let me just go change my clothes and finish this cup."

"Sure, absolutely, you probably don't need my help with that, though, so I'll just wait here."

Kate giggled and nearly spit out her coffee as she walked off back down the hallway. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks."

 **xxxx**

The pocket of Rick's shorts jingled with bits of sea glass, the low morning tide gifting a treasure trove of colored morsels for the collection they started as they wandered down the beach side by side. The sand was already crowded with towels and umbrellas, families and friends, everyone seemingly well into the swing of the holiday weekend.

"I can't imagine being lucky enough to have this as my backyard," Kate said, bending to scope out a tiny glimmer of blue. "Why do you ever leave this place, Castle?"

"You know, I wonder that sometimes myself, but you're in the city, well, the precinct is," he quickly amended trying to cover the slip, "and Alexis' school and Mother's whatever Mother does. It just isn't practical, unfortunately. But I really do love it here, so who knows, maybe someday."

"Well, if you ever need a house sitter, please consider this an official offer. My head could use a place like this once in a while."

"We'll definitely keep your résumé on file, Ms. Beckett, and we thank you for your interest."

Kate handed him the piece of blue glass she freed from the wet sand and he dropped it in with the rest. "Can I ask you something, Castle?" she said as they walked on. "It's a personal question, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"I'm intrigued, shoot," he told her, kicking an errant beach ball back to the young boy it'd escaped from.

"Why two divorces?"

He chuckled loudly. "Oh, now, you didn't say it was going to be such a fun personal question."

"I'm sorry, you really don't have to tell me. I don't even know why I asked." But, the thing was, she knew exactly why she'd asked. She'd always wondered why, ever since he'd demonstrated to her the kind of man he truly was, ever since he'd proven to her he wasn't like any man she'd ever known.

"Kate, it's fine, really." He leaned over and nudged her elbow with his own. "And did you catch that? The name thing? Gold star for Rick."

"I did," she said. "Nicely done."

"Yes, thank you very much. It's not easy to break a habit, which is an interesting segue back to the question of my ex-wives, actually. So, two marriages and two divorces have I. I guess I could give you an easy answer which is we just grew apart, or we wanted different things, or we jumped in too fast, too young, too whatever, but that wouldn't be the truth, and lying to you isn't something I'm interested in doing."

Kate reached out and touched his wrist and they both stopped moving. "Want to sit?" He nodded and they dropped onto the warm sand, facing the water as the tide slowly began to push it ever closer to the shore. "What's the hard answer?" she said, watching him as he stared out across the blue.

"The hard answer is I wasn't a very good husband."

There was something in his face, something that made clear the pain he was still carrying. "Why do you say that, Castle? You weren't in it alone. A marriage involves two people."

He turned to look at her, finally. "Yes, it should. Unfortunately for them, I just wasn't very involved, not like I should've been. They both deserved better than that."

Kate pushed her toes beneath the sand and let the quiet hang over them for a moment. "Do you think you'll ever do it again? Get married, I mean."

"Are you suggesting a woman actually exists that could put up with me for all eternity?" he said jokingly.

"Please, I'm a cop, Castle. I live in reality. I'd never suggest something so fantastical," she said and they shared a laugh.

"Well, if you ever happen upon any potential candidates, be sure to send them my way." Their eyes met and quickly shifted off as though caught. "I'm hot. Are you hot? How about we head back and jump in the pool. I checked it this morning and it's a perfect 82°."

"If you have some cold beer to go with that pool, I'm in," Kate said and she grabbed the hand he extended to help her up.

"A woman after my own heart. The pool house fridge is stocked and it has our names written all over it."

"Castle," she said as they started back towards the house, "thank you for telling me the hard answer."

"So many things to learn."

 **xxxx**

They both changed into their bathing suits when they got back to the house, Rick wearing just that down to the pool and Kate's hidden beneath a long, white tee. There were lounge chairs set out around the deck and a couple of the floating variety already in the water, the midday sun high and hot above. She dipped her toes in to test the water's temperature as soon as they arrived, and then set to unrolling their towels while he ducked into the pool house, returning with two bottles of beer just as she was pulling her shirt up over her head.

"Wow," he blurted, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of her.

Kate spun around to find him staring, his mouth open but silent. "What, Castle? It's a bathing suit," she said snappishly, while experiencing a simultaneous tinge of excitement.

Once his knees unbuckled, he closed their distance. "I'm sorry, but that is so much more than a bathing suit and I'm just going to hand you this beer right now and stop talking before I get myself into trouble - or more trouble, from the look on your face."

"How about you get in the water, Castle, before I push you in," she warned, somehow managing to maintain a tough exterior despite what was going on inside.

"Roger that," he said, handing her his bottle and falling purposely backwards into the pool, his exceedingly hot skin welcoming the relief.

Kate jumped in after him and wrangled one of the chairs to push up into, paddling herself back towards the spot at the edge where she'd left her beer. "This feels amazing," she gushed, her tone markedly changed from just a moment before. "I can't remember the last time I was in a pool."

"I told you, right? Perfect temperature." Rick followed her lead and slid into the other chair. "I know you offered to house-sit, but if you ever just want to come out for the weekend to hang out and use the pool, say the word. You could invite someone out with you or just come by yourself or, you know, whatever you want."

She could clearly tell by the way he said it that he was fishing for something. She knew him well enough to hear it in his voice. "Someone? You mean like Lanie?" she asked puckishly.

"Um, sure, like Lanie or your dad, or, I don't know, a date or whomever. I'm just, I'm not here every weekend, so the house sits empty, and it should be used is all I'm saying." He was babbling. He was babbling terribly and he knew it.

"That's a very nice offer, Castle, thank you," she said, smiling around the head of her bottle. "I might just take you up on that sometime."

Rick ran an anxious hand through his wet hair and pushed his chair closer. "Great, yeah. So, um, on a semi-related note, and, like you told me earlier, please feel free not to answer this if you don't want to, but are you going out with that cop from Robbery? The one Esposito talked to about that case a couple of weeks back?"

"Is this like a-personal-question-for-a-personal-question kind of a thing?"

"I think it's more of a me-being-nosy kind of a thing, honestly."

She raised her brow and nodded as if impressed. "So much truth from you today, Castle. And, to answer your question, no, I'm not going out with Tom. He asked but I politely declined. I don't date people I work with."

"You don't...but what about Mr. Square Jaw?"

"Rules always start somewhere," she said, his colorful reference for her ex clear yet unacknowledged. She took as subtle a deep breath in as she could before going on. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Espo talked him into the whole thing, and I'd really prefer something more than a man who has to be pushed into it by a buddy."

"If that's true, the guy's a damn idiot," Rick mumbled to himself.

"Which one?" Kate asked, swallowing a grin.

"So I did say that out loud, huh?"

She pushed off the side of the pool and began to float away. "Drink your beer, Castle," she said. "You need to catch up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rick had already bought them tuna steaks to grill for dinner when he was in town that morning, and when clouds rolled in late that afternoon, they decided to finally climb out of the pool and head for the farm stand in case a storm blew through. Both being several beers in, they elected to walk, the distance there and back reasonable enough to be completed in an hour's time, and the breeze that'd accompanied the darker skies made the air far more comfortable than it'd been earlier in the day.

They purchased an assortment of vegetables and fruit, both for that evening and for their remaining two days, and Kate dove into it the moment they got back to the house, cutting up much of the fruit for a salad over a glass of wine, while Rick mainly watched and picked, which, to be honest, she quite preferred.

"You know, it's kind of soothing watching you work in the kitchen like this. You're very...precise," he told her, popping another grape into his mouth. "Ever consider being a chef?"

"Not a chef, no, never. I enjoy eating food more than I enjoy preparing it, but I did want to be a surgeon at one point when I was younger, so that might be where the steady knife stems from."

"Well, I have no doubt you could've done it, or anything else you wanted to do for that matter. You're a very tenacious woman." He finished the final sip in his wine glass and reached for the bottle. "You know what I wanted to be when I was growing up?"

Kate stopped slicing the peach pinned beneath her fingers and looked up. "I'm almost scared to ask, but what's that?"

"A window washer."

She chuckled in disbelief. "You wanted to be a window washer? Seriously? Why?"

"I remember being out with my mother when I was about nine. We were out wandering in Midtown, shopping or running errands or something, and we were stopped at the end of a block waiting to cross the street, and I looked up and saw these two guys hanging off this building made of glass. I just stood there, staring and staring at them, absolutely transfixed, until Mother tugged at my arm and we had to cross. I just couldn't imagine what it must've been like to see the city from up there, how amazing it must've been." His voice trailed off as he finished recounting the experience, his tone almost wistful.

Kate picked up a slice of the peach with the tip of the knife and offered it to him. "That's actually really sweet, Castle. Even back then you were imagining the world from other perspectives. I mean, that's what your writing is, right? It feels sort of poetic the way things worked out."

"I suppose," he said, thinking on her words. "You know, part of me wishes you never had to even think about becoming a cop, but then another part of me, a very selfish part of me, can't imagine what my life would be like right now if you hadn't. I'm sorry. I know that must sound awful."

"Things happen that we can't control, Castle, awful things. Was this the path I ever imagined I'd be on? No. Do I wish things were different? I do, but only the things that led me to take the first step along that path to begin with. I feel like I belong there now, like I belong with the NYPD and that family. And it didn't sound awful, Castle. I love what I do, and if what I do has meant something to you, too, then I'm glad."

"This is some pretty heavy stuff to talk about over fruit," Rick said, pulling open a drawer nearby for plastic wrap. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving, actually."

"Okay, here, take this and cover the bowl. Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll get the tuna and veggies ready for the grill. When you're finished, I'll jump in the shower again quickly and then we'll get this stuff cooking. It shouldn't take long at all."

"Sounds like a plan. May I?" she asked reaching for the bottle of wine.

"Allow me," Rick said, pouring her another. "There are extra towels in the linen closet in your bathroom if you need them. Oh, and no stealing the soap or shampoo. We always count when our guests check out," he teased, sending her off.

 **xxxx**

When Kate emerged from her room, Rick was nowhere to be found, the bowl of fruit salad left on the counter next to two large pouches of aluminum foil and the half-empty bottle of wine they'd opened. She could hear the sound of running water coming from upstairs, so she knew immediately where he'd gone and that she had some time alone. Leaving her glass behind, she began to wander from room to room, taking in parts of him he'd chosen to share through photographs and trinkets and art.

He was so many things, so many things she both knew well and didn't know at all, like one of her cases, one where she had pieces of a thing but not a whole. She was fascinated by him, confounded by him, challenged by him, turned on by him in ways she'd never imagined and rarely admitted, and she felt immense exhilaration being alone in his space.

"Ah, I found you," Rick said, stepping through the doorway of his study, the room just across the hallway from where she was staying. Startled, she turned for the voice, bumping into the corner of his desk like she didn't even know it was there. "And, I'm..." He looked at her standing there and couldn't say another word, not because he didn't want to, but because somewhere between the curve of her bare shoulders and the soft line of her yellow dress, he'd simply lost the ability.

"Castle?" she asked, sincere in her concern given the perplexity of his stare. "Are you okay?"

He moved slowly into the room until he was able to take hold of the back of a chair for balance. "I'm fine, yeah, I just need a second." Kate came around the desk towards him, giving him full view of her form. "I, uh, I really hate to bring up one of my more embarrassing recent moments, Kate, but somehow you've managed to render me speechless for the second time today, which is particularly painful for a writer. "That dress is...you look incredible."

His candor hit her everywhere, more so in the places she spent so much time trying exhaustingly to keep guarded. "Lanie told me I should bring it," she said flustered, wandering her body with her own eyes as his did.

"And I've never wanted to thank Lanie more," he replied, his fingers near white from his grip on the chair.

"Thank you, Castle. You look nice, too. It almost seems like a shame no one else is going to see us."

"It does, doesn't it?" he said in feigned agreement, though he wasn't certain he'd ever felt more grateful to have her to himself. "And now that I finally think I can behave like a gentleman once again, shall we feast? I mean, if you'd rather keep snooping, I can just grab a fork and attack that fruit bowl out there."

"That's not, I wasn't snooping, I was admiring, well, except for that photo over there. I can't wait to hear the story about your hair," she said, swallowing a taunting smile.

"I feel like you may hear a lot tonight, actually, if you're going to be wearing that thing, so please accept my apology in advance, and when I tell you it's the wine talking and to ignore me, it'd be great if you just went ahead and humored me."

She walked past him with a sideways glance. "Guess I'll have to wait and see, Castle. Depends how good your tuna is."

 **xxxx**

The sky had cleared without leaving a drop of rain behind, but the breeze that'd trickled in with the clouds had lingered, gifting a perfect evening for them to enjoy their meal outside. They sat across from one another at a table beneath the pool house patio's cover, their view the length of the softly lit water and beyond, and the noise of the city felt like a distant memory as silence blissfully enveloped them.

"I really need to get one of these pool things in my new apartment," Kate joked, her focus drawn by its passive seduction more than once. "I think it could really add a certain je ne sais quoi, you know? Sort of like a new vase."

"Mmm, yeah," Rick said, swallowing his last spear of asparagus. "I mean, I don't know what your new place is going to look like, but a pool can really work as a great focal point for an apartment, not to mention how practical it is." Kate giggled and he followed suit. "So, I guess you didn't care for my tuna," he said smugly, pointing to her empty plate.

"Not a bit, nope, and I definitely don't want the recipe for the sauce."

He grinned and washed his bite down with a sip of wine. "Remind me when we go back up to the house. I actually think it's my mother's, which is truly scary because the woman can barely distinguish the stove from the dishwasher, so if you start to feel faint, you'll know why."

"Speaking of that-"

"Fainting?"

"Women, I was going to say," Kate clarified after being interrupted.

"One of my favorite topics, in case you were wondering," he said. "I consider myself something of an expert in the field."

"I never would've guessed that, Castle," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was actually thinking about a specific woman, though. Are you really planning on writing three more Nikki Heat books?" He didn't say anything right away, and she couldn't quite get a read on his expression.

"Are you asking me that because you don't want me to?" he said finally.

Kate could hear it in his voice, the hint of concern over what might follow, and she understood that feeling well. When he'd been offered the opportunity to write the next set of novels in another series, she'd worried about losing him, too. "No, Castle, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. Sometimes it's just strange to be the person on the page, that's all, even in an indirect way. I'm not sure that's something I'll ever get used to."

"I really hope you're not saying that because you don't believe what you've done and what you do is worthy of the tribute or the recognition, Kate. Look, I know you didn't ask for any of this. I know I threw myself into your life without considering whether or not you wanted me to be here, but I hope you understand how much I value this character, how enamored I am of this character, _our_ character, and as long as she's in my hands, however long that is, I'll always do my best to honor you through her."

If the wing of a butterfly brushed against her skin in that moment, she was certain the tears would fall; that's how close he brought her. "Thank you, Rick. Thank you for saying that, and I know it's important to you. I really do," she said, clearing the lump of emotion from her throat.

"I know. It isn't easy, is it," he said.

"What isn't?"

"The whole first name thing," he answered amusingly. "I'm struggling with it, honestly."

She forced out a phony laugh. "Very funny, Castle."

"There you go. That's better. And just so you know, I'm also still struggling to process that dress you're wearing. Think the NYPD might entertain the idea of making that a regular uniform thing?"

"Why, because you're looking for more excuses not to do any actual work at work?"

Rick pulled his napkin from his lap and tossed it onto the table with pretended indignation. "Oh, you know what? For that, you owe me a dance. Up, up, up, come on," he insisted, pushing from his chair and reaching for her hand.

"You want to dance now? Here?"

"Yes, yes I do," he said. "You have somewhere else you need to be?" They were both standing, but neither had let go of the other.

"There's no music, Castle."

"And I was just about to fix that. Wait right here, please." He released her hand and ducked inside the pool house, returning a minute later to the sound of Sinatra spilling from the speakers overhead. "Music, ask and ye shall receive." Stepping into her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and her body conformed willingly.

"That's a neat trick, Castle. You just happened to have that all cued up and ready."

"No," he said, taking her hand with his other, "I had Vanilla Ice cued up and ready. I had to switch over to Ol' Blue Eyes. You're welcome." They began to move slowly with the music, their bodies unaccustomed to such proximity, yet inexplicably familiar. "I'm impressed. All that beer and wine today and you haven't stepped on my toes once," he wisecracked, trying, for her comfort, to keep the air light.

"You haven't given me reason to, yet," she quipped, her wedges affording her enough height to rest her chin just below his shoulder. His scent was different than it'd been that morning, less soap and more spice, but she had to be as close as she was in order to pick up its subtlety, and mixed with the whisper of wine on his breath, it was delightfully intoxicating. All at once, an unexpected boldness began to swirl inside her, and she could feel it as though it was some sort of liquid injection racing through her veins. "So, you like the dress, huh?" she asked at his ear, girlish yet glaringly far from it.

"No, I don't like it, I love it," Rick said, parroting her very response from the evening before, his fingers curling around the curve of her waist.

"I'm glad," she whispered as she pulled back and met his eye.

"Oh, this is very dangerous territory for me, Kate," he said after a long moment. "And God do I wish you understood what that meant."

"How do you know I don't?"

They'd stopped dancing but the music kept playing, their bodies still joined because neither had initiated otherwise. "What I know is that imagination is an enormous part of my world and that's the only place this moment has ever lived."

"What moment is that? The one where we eat grilled tuna by the pool? The one where Sinatra saves me from Vanilla Ice? Or the one where you ask me if you can kiss me because you finally realize I can't possibly give you signals more obvious than these?" she asked playfully in three sentences that practically rolled out as one with her buzz.

"Wow, those are all oddly specific guesses, but that last one comes the closest, I think."

"Just out of curiosity, which part did I get wrong?" she said, subtly wetting her lips.

"Just that, in my head, you're usually the one that asks me," he told her with audible satisfaction. "But, I'm certainly open to an alternate ending." He took a step back and slid his hands around hers. "I've had a wonderful day here with you, Kate, and tonight has been the perfect way to end it. I never could've-"

"I don't need the novel version, Castle. Can you please just kiss me already?"

"Habit, sorry," he said and he came for her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Are you ever going to open your eyes?" Kate whispered, her lips wet with his mark.

Their first kiss had been slow and sweet, all too brief in its duration yet perfectly consummated by two new to the art of each other. He'd wrapped her fully in his arms, her fingers in fists around the fabric of the shirt at his back where they still held tight, all the while their bodies shuffling gently to the serenade from the speakers above.

"Will you still be here with me if I do?" Rick asked playfully and yet.

She leaned in for his ear. "Open them," she told him, releasing her grip. "Look at me, Castle." He finally acquiesced, his trepidation evident. "Hi," she said with dulcet reassurance. "Still here."

"And you're still wearing the dress and we're still…okay, wow, I don't think I can feel my legs again," he said, "but it was totally worth it and, my God, I must sound like a complete idiot right now." Words just kept springing from his mouth, seemingly beyond his control. "We just kissed. We've never done that before."

"No, we haven't," Kate agreed with a soft smile, drawing her thumb across her lower lip. "But I have thought about what it might be like before."

He looked back at her in surprise. "Really? I always assumed I was the only one."

"Did that feel like you were the only one, Castle?" It was all so wonderfully strange. Just yesterday she'd insisted nothing like this was going to happen, that they were friends and nothing more, and now there she was having instigated it and wondering why the hell she'd waited so long.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to process this, but I think I need to sit down," he said sounding adorably intoxicated. "Wait, are you okay?"

"Oh, your lips are very powerful, Castle, but I'm good, thanks," she answered with a laugh, guiding him back towards the table. "Maybe have some wine, try to relax." She poured a few sips more into his glass and he swallowed it down. "Better?" He nodded and she set the bottle aside.

He got quiet for a minute before he spoke again. "You'll have to forgive me because I'm going to say this with all the eloquence of a smitten teenager, but that was the greatest first kiss I've ever had, and I don't know if it's ever going to happen again, but if it doesn't, I won't be complaining for one second."

"You? You won't be complaining?" Kate asked incredulously. Sitting there across from him, watching him, listening to him, thinking about what they'd just done, she already wanted more. "I can't wait for that show," she teased.

"Fine, maybe I overstated, but it's going to be all your fault because you gave me a taste and now I'm always going to want another, and this all goes right back to that teenager thing I mentioned." He began picking at the fruit on his plate, popping pieces into his mouth one after the other. "It wasn't easy for me before when I was just imagining it, but it was definitely easier when I didn't know what it was like, but now that I do-"

"Castle," she said, jumping into his ramble, "would you like for it to happen again?"

"Yes, please," he answered matter-of-factly, his cheeks filled with grapes and berries.

"Then you're going to have to stop talking."

"Right, okay, I can do that," he said chewing what was left in his mouth. "Hey, it looks like it's getting dark enough to maybe see some stars. Want to go out to the yard and sit and watch them with me? I have some blankets inside. I can run in and grab them for us."

"Should we take all this stuff in first?"

He pushed out of his chair and came around for her. "I don't care about any of that right now. I'd just like to do this with you," he said, holding out his hand.

"Lead the way," she told him, offering her own.

 **xxxx**

Rick spread the blankets out in the middle of the expansive lawn, the sliver of a moon high out over the water, the sky nearly absent any clouds. He'd left a few lights on at the front of the house, but turned off those in the back to help maximize their view, a trick he'd discovered with Alexis a few years before, and they found their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness without need of the small flashlight he'd brought with him just in case.

"This is one of Alexis' favorite things to do when we're out here. The crescent moon really helps, so we got lucky tonight. When it's full it's not as easy." He tugged at the blanket's final corner and straightened it out. "All set, pick a side."

"I'll take this one, I guess," Kate said, sliding off her shoes in the grass and settling on the left.

"Huh, that's the side I sleep on."

"Me, too. You'd think sleeping alone I'd end up in the middle, but I never do."

Rick stepped around to the right and kneeled down next to her. "I know what you mean. It's weird how that happens, how your brain gets used to things you're not really even conscious of." He kicked his legs straight and stretched out on his back, folded his hands beneath his head as a pillow. "You want to lie down? Oh, wait, your dress, I'm sorry. Maybe I should've asked if you wanted to change first."

"It's okay, Castle. It's a sundress, not a ball gown." She followed his lead and reclined next to him, their elbows meeting in the middle. "Does it feel weird to be on that side?"

"Not if you're comfortable where you are, it doesn't. I'm just happy you're here next to me, and could this night be any more perfect? Seriously, look at that. It's amazing, isn't it?" The enthusiasm in his voice was almost child-like, contagious, and in the most wonderful way.

"My dad used to take my mom and me to the planetarium all the time when I was little. I loved it, but she loved it more. She'd always talk about it for hours afterwards, but it made us happy because she was so happy."

He turned to face her though he couldn't quite see her in the dark. "I wish I could've met her. I know you don't like to talk about her a lot, but I just wanted you to know that, that I think about her, too, sometimes. You're such an incredible woman. I can only imagine how incredible she must've been."

"It's not that I don't like to talk about her, Castle, it's just hard." He could tell by the sound of her voice that she'd turned to face him, as well. "I mean, it's easier now, thanks to time and thanks to you, but it's difficult for me to imagine a time when it'll ever be easy."

"Well, you know I'll always be here to do whatever I can to help. Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Did you see that shooting star? That's ten points for me."

"Why am I not surprised you keep score, Castle."

"That part was Alexis' idea," he insisted in a tone that screamed otherwise.

"Oh, I'm sure it was," she replied sarcastically. "And, really, thank you for what you said about my mom."

"Thank you for trusting me with her." He abruptly pointed to the sky off to her right. "There's the Big Dipper, see it?" he asked, tracing its outline with his finger.

"I do," she said, having already noticed it but allowing him the moment.

"Hey, do you believe life exists somewhere out there or do you think we're alone?" He began softly humming the theme music to "The X-Files" and she grinned.

"I don't know. I guess I'm not sure, really. I was just talking with Lanie about possibility the other day, actually, about how the whole idea of it can be scary." She thought for a minute about their conversation that day, about where she was then and where she found herself now, on the other side of imagination. "I think both ideas scare me a little bit, that someone or something could just show up at any time and change everything or that that could never happen."

Rick rolled over onto his side, propped his head up with his hand. He knew her well enough to understand what she'd said without actually saying it, and for that reason he didn't want to push, to take it further than she might be ready for. "I'll protect you, Scully, whatever happens," he joked, humor ever his savior.

"Gee, thanks, Mulder. Now are you going to show me what else is up there or what? I paid for the deluxe star package."

"Absolutely, and ten points for Ms. Beckett for humoring me and playing along," he said, rolling back over. "It seems we have ourselves a tie game."

 **xxxx**

They stayed out for quite a while, wandering in late when Rick suggested a cup of tea. He put the kettle on for them and made two trips back down to the pool to gather up their dishes from dinner while Kate changed her clothes, returning from the second to find her at the kitchen counter dropping tea bags into mugs.

"There's enough of this fruit left over to feed a small army. We'd need another week here to finish it."

"If only," she said offhandedly, turning to attend to the water's whistle. "I'll be happy to take what's left of it home with me."

"Sure, whatever you want," he said, passing behind her for the bowl's cover. "And you still look great, by the way, dress or not." It felt different somehow, the way he said it, the way she felt it, and she blushed with his words. "Not that you looking great is anything new."

"Thank you, Castle. Do you guys have any honey, by chance?"

"We should, yeah. Alexis likes to use it. Check the cupboard to the right of the stove." He turned on the water at the sink to rinse off their plates and silverware for the dishwasher, his back to her. "I usually like lemon in mine, but I forgot to get some at the farm stand today."

Kate quietly stepped up behind him, the tea left steeping on the counter. She settled her forehead against his back and he stopped what he was doing. "Thank you for inviting me here," she told him before a notable pause. "This is scary for me, Castle. I don't want to lose what we have; I can't. But I don't want to stop myself anymore, either."

Rick reached for the water and turned it off, rotating where he stood. "Kate, listen to me, what happened between us tonight was incredible, and I'd love nothing more than for it to happen again and again and again, but it's only going to happen when you want it to and if you want it to, and I promise, whichever it is, you will never lose me or us." She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist and he closed around her. "I promise." He kissed the top of her head and she released her hold. "Come on, let's take these and go sit in the other room."

They dropped onto the couch next to each other, their mugs on the table, still too hot to drink. Rick had his arm perched behind her, not touching her, but close enough for her to feel, her legs tucked up beneath her into the corner. "So, some bad news for tomorrow, it looks like. We should be able to go out for a walk in the morning, but it's now supposed to rain all afternoon. I'm not sure what the plan was going to be, but we'll have to come up with a new one."

"We'll think of something," she said. "Maybe we can just hang out and watch movies all day. You have shelves in this house filled with DVDs, and I never get a chance to just sit around and do that."

"Sure, if you want to. I'm down for a rainy day movie fest. A trip to the store for movie-watching snacks will, of course, be in order."

Her head fell back against his arm and she smiled. "See, a Plan B wasn't so hard. Now what's that face for?" she asked, noting his sudden dour expression.

"I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss that bikini," he confessed. "Mother Nature can be a real bummer, sometimes."

Kate pushed her body up and away from the back of the couch, inching towards him as he watched curiously. "Well, if I let you kiss me again maybe it'll help ease some of the pain." He released a loud burst of laughter and she pulled away. "Alright then, well-"

"Get back over here," he said, taking her by the arm. "I laughed because you said 'maybe.' "


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kate was up and showered early the next morning, having challenged herself to beat Rick to the kitchen at least one time that weekend since he'd insisted she couldn't, but she failed on her first of two remaining chances, finding him sitting on the steps outside the back door staring off at the ocean.

She pushed at the screen door and it opened with a tiny creak, his attention instantly drawn in surprise, and she sat down beside him beneath the day's grey sky. "I didn't smell any coffee when I got up. I thought maybe I'd won," she said, curling her fingers around his arm. "There's always tomorrow, I guess."

"You may try," he told her with a preposterously exaggerated accent of indistinguishable origin, "but you shall never succeed." His eyes broke from the panorama and found hers. "Morning, beautiful. Sleep okay?"

"Better than okay. The left side of that bed is particularly comfortable," she said with a wink. "And you were in my dream, which was nice. I know you're in with a lot of people. You know the Sandman, too?"

"I wish. I'd have sent him to your place years ago and saved myself some very long nights. But, back to me. Tell me about this dream of yours, and remember the key to any good story is the details."

"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" He stared back at her silently waiting. "Okay, so, we were on the beach together, and-"

"Was the black bikini there?" he jumped in excitedly to her visible displeasure. "Sorry, I'm listening, go on."

"You were creating this really elaborate sandcastle for me at sunset."

He smiled grandly. "Castle building a sandcastle. I like that."

"Please don't speak unless I call on you, Mr. Castle," she admonished, and he pretended to zip up his mouth with a motion of his hand. "The sky was this incredible mixture of pink and purple, and we were the only two people around for as far as the eye could see. You told me we were going to live there in that castle on the beach and that no one would ever bother us, and we would watch that sunset together every night."

"Well, that's a really beaut-" he began to say before she continued.

"And then a big dog came along and peed on it."

He recoiled instantly at her words. "You dreamed a dog peed on our house? Yeah, uh, I think I'll go ahead and skip the dream book consultation on that one and just chalk it up to probably not good."

"But the sunset was so gorgeous, Castle. I wish you could've seen it. Not to mention your skill with sand. I remember being very impressed." Quietly amused by his frown, she leaned in for his ear. "And I was wearing the black bikini."

"Wow, I'm so glad you didn't lead with that or I would've been too distracted to enjoy the whole dog finale," he said sarcastically. "Just so you know, now that I know that part, the ending in my head's going to be a hell of a lot different."

She kissed him on the cheek and he hummed with the sensation. "So, what were you thinking about out here all by yourself? You seemed a little bit faraway, maybe."

"You, mostly," he said, "and last night, and the past two years, and tomorrow, and next week."

"Yeah? Why?"

"Because it's you. Because it's us. Because I've gotten very used to getting things I want and I haven't always appreciated those things the way I should. I don't know, really. I just know I want to do this right, and I'm not even sure what this is."

Kate drew her hand down the curve of his back and pressed a kiss against his shoulder, leaving her head at rest against that spot. "Whatever this is, Castle, has never happened to me before, so I don't know what right and wrong are, and I feel like all I ever do is think about the past and about tomorrow and next week. Why don't we just be here today, together, and let whatever happens happen. Can we try to do that?"

"You mean like random peeing dogs happen?"

"You always know just what to say, Castle," she said, shaking her head. "Can we please go for our walk now, Writer, before the rain gets here?"

"I've just been waiting on you, Detective."

 **xxxx**

They wandered lazily down the beach and back, the sand all but theirs with the weather as it was, stopping beneath one of the vacant lifeguard chairs along the way to kiss each other for the first time in the light of day, and laughing about how strange and surprising it felt. The rain began to fall along their return, a mist at first, but growing in intensity as they neared the path leading back up to the house, leaving their clothes wet enough to require a change before they could do anything else.

"This is pretty domestic of you, Castle. I wasn't sure you'd actually know how to work a dryer."

"If you think that's sexy, you should see me plug in an iron."

"Oh, did you hear sexy? I don't think I said sexy. Must be all the noise from the soft, cotton clothes tumbling."

Rick stepped towards her and she backed into the wall behind her and was forced to a stop. "Are you making fun of me? You're wearing a shirt that's fourteen sizes too big for you and your hair's sticking up over there, and you're making fun of me?"

"I don't much care for men who can dish it but can't take it," Kate replied suggestively, the weight of his body close enough to feel. "And I happen to like this shirt."

"I assure you I'm happy to take it, especially if you're dishing it, and I like that shirt, too, a little bit because it's mine and a lot because you're wearing it. Maybe I should be thanking Mother Nature, here, instead of cursing her."

She peeked around him at the dryer's timer. "So, thirty minutes. Want to make a junk food shopping list while we wait?"

He eyed her from top to bottom and back up again. "Yeah, what I want probably isn't appropriate at this point, so we should do your thing instead."

"Well, if you can manage to behave yourself, which from two years of experience to the contrary I seriously doubt, I might just share my Twizzlers with you."

"Twizzlers, huh? You should know in my new dictionary that definitely means-"

"List, Castle, list," she said, stepping on his salacious thought and pulling him out the laundry room door.

 **xxxx**

The coffee table in front of them was littered with half-eaten this and empty that, its usual adornments relocated to the floor nearby, more by necessity than by choice. They were three films into their Billy Wilder marathon, a favorite director of both they'd discovered while scanning Rick's extensive collection for things to watch, and the rain was falling in fits and starts, the inconsistency in its percussion both soothing and jarring as they sat huddled together in the middle of the couch.

"He really was a genius," Kate said as the closing sequence rolled on _Double Indemnity._ "I think I love it more every time."

"I could tell. I was watching you, and your eyes were smiling in the way they do sometimes. I'm pretty sure I missed, like, a quarter of the movie, but it was so worth it."

She turned to him with a crooked brown. "Is that so? Care to do some role-playing and fill in the holes? I'll be Stanwyck and you can be MacMurray. We'll have to do it sitting down, though, because I'm so full I don't think I can move. "

"You're kidding, right? I can barely handle being this close to you for this long without combusting," he said with a nervous cackle. "I may not make it to the fourth movie if I hear you utter one line of Stanwyck's dialogue."

Her head fell back against the cushion behind them. "I'm actually kind of glad it rained. I had a lot of fun today, even if I do end up stuck in this spot all night because of all the crap you made me eat. You're a very bad influence, in case I haven't reminded you of that lately."

"'Do I laugh now, or wait 'til it gets funny?'" Rick replied, finding a way to shrewdly quote MacMurray's character from the film, despite his objection to doing just that.

"Touché," she said, commending his play. "Very clever, Writer."

He tossed his empty bag of chocolate covered peanuts onto the table and stretched out his legs. "I had fun, too. You want some dinner or something?"

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"I am," he said. "Sort of."

"We're already going to have to walk to Jersey tomorrow morning to make up for this," she said, pointing to the wrapper- cluttered table.

"Yeah, but that was fake food, not real food. Maybe you'd like me to show off and cook you a nice veggie omelet or something," he told her, his hand finding her back as she rolled onto her side away from him and towards the windows. "Hey, what's wrong? It doesn't have to be an omelet. I can make you something else."

"We have to go back to the real world tomorrow," she said with an audible melancholy that seemed to hit her instantly.

He couldn't deny he felt some of it, too, the sadness of having to leave the place they'd found and the uncertainty of what might come when they jumped back into the days and nights they'd left. "But this is the real world, too, Kate. At least, I hope it is. I want it to be."

"It's raining again," she said, after a moment of stillness, his words unacknowledged.

"Look at me, Kate." She finally gave in and came back around to him. "I told you last night that nothing is going to happen unless you want it to and I meant that, and if what did happen this weekend has to stay here then it stays here, but I won't leave it behind without you knowing how much I wish it didn't have to be that way."

Her eyes closed as she let his sentiment hit. "I don't want it to be that way, either." He brushed her cheek with his thumb and she nuzzled his fingers. "And God help me for it," she followed jokingly. "I swear, I still have no idea how the hell I got from then to now."

"Do you wish you hadn't?"

"No. No, Castle," she whispered, kissing his palm. "I love how it feels, and I'm happy I did, I am. I just think it happened so suddenly that I surprised myself, almost like I'm standing outside my body watching someone I don't entirely recognize, if that makes any sense."

"You think you surprised you, imagine how I feel," he said, nudging her playfully with his other hand. "And it does make sense and I do understand, and I hope if or when you have moments where you worry or you're scared, you'll talk to me about them and let me remind you just how amazing a catch I am and that you should never, ever let me get away."

"You know, it's really fascinating how even my moments seem to end up being about you."

"I think it really is, too," he said with a smile and winning one in return. "There is something I've been wondering, though. You said you had a rule that you didn't date people you work with, so..."

"Are you suggesting that thing you do with me every day is work?"

"Well, touché right back at ya." He reached across the table and grabbed the box of the final movie they'd chosen. "Ready to put this film fest to bed? We have one left."

"Why not, it's not like I can stand up or anything, anyway."

"You and your flirty talk," he said and he pushed off the couch.

 **xxxx**

It was well after dark when they finished, the rain seeing to that, and Rick tended to the mess they'd left behind while Kate went to change her clothes for the night. He could still taste her on his lips, the sweet and sour of the cherry lollipop she'd nursed through the beginning of the final movie, and his mind sent him back to a moment months before when that very same sensation, that very same sweetness, had affected another of his senses so deliciously. He became lost in how far off that suddenly seemed, and how incredible the journey from her office on that long ago day to his home on that very night.

"What can I do?" Kate asked, returning from her room to find him leaning still against the edge of the kitchen counter. "You want me to make you an omelet or something?" she teased.

"Would you spend the night with me tonight?" he asked simply and warmly. "I don't mean, I just, I'd like to be close to you before we leave here, and, again, of course, I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman."

The very idea of it sent a flutter through her body as she stood there. "A perfect gentleman like during _Sunset Blvd_ you mean?"

"Excuse me, but you gave me a look."

"That was because I wanted a bite of your Almond Joy."

"Well, I guess I provided joy in another way. And I don't recall your mouth doing much in the way of complaining."

"Yeah, yeah," Kate huffed, having no argument to offer in rebuttal. "So, is there anything else to do out here or are we going to bed?"

Rick flipped off the light above the stove and grabbed his phone off the counter. "Race you upstairs," he said and he dashed away, leaving her shaking her head as she marched slowly up the staircase behind him, taking all the time she possibly could.

"If I find you jumping on the bed when I get in there, Castle, no bedtime story for you," she called out to an empty hallway. When she finally appeared in the doorway to his room, he was sitting on the end of the bed waiting for her. "So, who gets to sleep on the left?" she asked, approaching him deliberately.

"My answer would normally be both of us if I'm lucky, but I'm being good tonight, well, now I am, so I'd like you to have the left and I'll, very chivalrously, take the right."

Tickling his knees with her own, she stood before him and tugged her sweatshirt over her head, revealing the fitted tank top she wore underneath, his eyes drinking her in. "I have to be honest with you, Castle, that look isn't so virtuous."

"Is there any, uh, partial credit given for trying really, really hard? And, seriously, is there any article of clothing on this planet that you don't look fucking amazing in? How am I supposed to-"

"Get over on your side, Castle, and if you don't remember how, I'll show you," she taunted, feeling every bit as charged as he seemed to be. "You know what they say. It's just like riding a bicycle."

 **xxxx**

She woke the next morning with his fingertips at her bare thigh, the constancy of his breath a more welcome sound than she could recall in a very long time. She turned her head towards the clock and noted the early hour, wishing she wasn't awake, yet reveling in its gifts. They'd left the hallway light on all night, neither wanting to break from the other for something so inconsequential, and because of its glow, she was able to see his face. He'd never looked more beautiful to her, more alive, despite his slumber, more hers, and she shut her eyes again and let the vision develop on her mind like a photograph to be preserved forever.

"This morning's mine, Castle," she whispered with a grin, savoring her victory over him on that final day.

He opened one of his eyes and peeked at her, though she was none the wiser. "You didn't actually think I was asleep, did you?" he said out of the blue, startling her to a jump. "You were in my bed all night, and we had some incredible, long...storytime. No way in hell I was going to be sleeping after that. Guess you'll just have to keep trying when we get home to see if you can beat me." He stretched his arms over his head and worked the stiffness out of his muscles. "You ready for our last walk on the beach?"

She drew her leg over his and used it to pull herself in against him. "I was in your bed all night, Castle, and we had some incredible, long storytime. No way in hell I'm going to be walking after that," she said waggishly, and she leaned in for his mouth.


End file.
